The Hitman
by eidolon101900
Summary: Au where Danny is a hit man who has ghost powers, and Dash is the police officer trying to catch him. This is yaoi, so don't read it if you don't like it. This takes place after their high school years and Phantom Planet did not happen.
1. Chapter 1

"Talking"

'_Danny thinking'_

'Narrator talking to Danny'

Chapter One

_'It's weird,_' Danny finally decided as he walked down the street, _'that this is how my life turned out.'_

Now if you passed him on the street, you probably wouldn't even give him a second glance. He wasn't very memorable. But this is how Danny liked it. With his job, he couldn't afford to be remembered. Sure, there were the people that saw him frequently, like the barista at the coffee shop he visited regularly, or the man who lived in his apartment building who left for his work at the same time Danny was coming in, and passed him in the lobby every day, but they weren't important. Even though they know of Danny, they don't know anything about him. They could tell you what he looked like, but not what apartment he lived in or what he did for a living.

_'But that's probably a good thing.'_ Danny smiled to himself as he passed the dollar store he went to sometimes. He was close to his destination. He would be there in ten minutes. _'Just enough time to get in before Mr. James gets home.'_ Danny thought to himself as he turned the corner. He could see the building that Mr. James lived in at the end of the street. He had nine minutes to get to the building and into Mr. James' apartment. Danny had been watching him for weeks, and knew his schedule by heart.

_'At seven a.m., he wakes up and gets ready for work. At eight, he leaves his apartment and goes to the lobby, and arrives there at approximately 8:03 a.m., depending on how many people were coming in and going out the elevator. He leaves in his red sports car and drives to work. He would arrive at 8:30, but he stops for coffee, which makes him arrive at 8:45. When arrives at the building he works at, he takes the elevator up to the 27__th__ floor. He walks down the hall and around the corner past 12 cubicles, says hello to his secretary and asks if he has any messages or appointments, then enters his office and does nothing but sign papers and type on his computer all day,'_ thought Danny with disgust.

Danny didn't know what Mr. James did for a living, and did not care in the slightest bit. Those types of jobs were a waste of valuable time, and time. Danny preferred his job a lot more than and office job. His had so much more excitement, and required a lot more smarts than working in an office did.

By now you're probably wondering what Danny's job is. He works with people, but that's why it requires him to be clever. He has to study these people, and find out how they think, and use it against them in the worst way possible. He was a murderer-

_'Now that's a bit over the top for a hitman.'_ Danny frowned as he crossed the street.

'They both kill people, so they are basically the same thing.'

'_Hmph.' _Danny pouted.

Anyway, Danny is a hitman. He takes requests from people to kill someone, and fulfills it, but only if he is paid along with the request, and if he judges that the reasoning for the person to die is justifiable. This time he got a request for Mr. James.

Robert James is a successful man, who lived on the highest floor of one of the most expensive apartments in the city; he drove a sports car, and had about two girlfriends a week. But this time he had two girlfriends at the same time, and one of them found out. Now a rational person wouldn't find this justifiable (though, to be fair, Danny wasn't exactly rational either. I mean he's talking to the narrator).

'_Hey!'_

But Danny had been in a similar situation. He remembers him quite clearly. His name was Bradley Walker, and he had brown hair and green eyes. He was so nice to Danny. They had met at a club, and started seeing each other more and more, and one day Danny was going to surprise Bradley by going to his house, and hadn't called first. When he was walking there, he had passed by the park, and looked in, and on the bench was Bradley kissing another person. A girl. Danny had run home and broke up with Bradley through text. So he thought that this was a perfectly justifiable reason to kill someone.

'_Please stop.'_

'Sorry.'

Danny made it into the lobby, and got some strange looks considering how he was dressed; in a red hoodie and black ripped skinny jeans, he didn't exactly look like the kind of person who would liv there. He had been here before, and knew the landlord thought that it was rather rude for the person at the desk to stop someone to ask if they lived there because of how they were dressed, so they weren't allowed to stop him.

'_She wants to though, judging by how she's looking at me.'_ Danny thought as she passed by the lady smiling pleasantly at her. She sniffed and went back to typing on her computer. He got into the elevator, and took it up to the 15th floor, where Mr. James lived. He had pickpocketed Mr. James about three weeks ago, so that he would have enough time to get another key. He put the key in the lock and turned it. The door opened smoothly, and Danny stepped in and closed the door quietly behind him. He didn't want the people in other apartments to get suspicious by hearing the door open and close twice in five minutes.

After relocking the door, Danny turned on the light and surveyed the apartment. By the door, there was a short hallway which led to the living room, which had an assortment of alcohol to the left of the door, and to the right was a couch. In between the couch and the TV was a coffee table with sharp corners. On the TV stand was the remote. Danny knew that every time he came home from work, Mr. James would get a drink and watch TV.

Danny turned off the light and sat down on the couch. _'This is nice. I want a leather couch.'_ Danny thought while waiting for Mr. James. He should be coming in in two minutes.

After two long minutes of silence, Danny heard the lock in the door being turned. The door opened and the light turned on. Mr. James walked into the living room while rubbing a hand over his face and turned towards his drinks. Danny smiled to himself while Mr. James poured his drink and got the remote. Still facing away from him, Mr. James turned on the TV and watched the movie that was currently playing.

Danny readied himself, and still smiling, said "Hello."


	2. Chapter 2

"Talking"

'_Dash thinking'_

Disclaimer because I didn't put on the last time: I don't own Danny Phantom in any way, shape, or form.

Chapter Two

_'It's weird,'_ Dash finally decided as he pulled out some files from his desk,_ 'that this is how my life turned out after high school.'_

Dash sat down at his desk with the files he pulled from the top drawer. Inside the files were the victims of a murderer that the police working at Dash's precinct had dubbed Phantom. They call him Phantom because of how evasive he is. Even in a police chase, they had been so close to catching him. Dash and his partner, Mark, were chasing Phantom down an alleyway, and he turned a corner. He thought they finally had him. He had memorized all the alleyways in the city, and knew that the path ended in a brick wall, with no other alternatives. There were no drains or sewers, and the windows closest to the ground were a good fifteen feet up, and there weren't any fire escapes, so there was no way he could go in through a window.

But when they had turned the corner, he was gone. _'It's like he's a ghost. No matter what we do, no matter where we chase him, he always gets away!'_ Dash thought as he opened the file. In there was Phantom's most recent murder. A week ago, Phantom had killed a woman, Emily Adams. She was a single mother, taking care of her three children. Riley and Taylor were Emily's four year old twins. When the police arrived, they were inconsolable, which makes sense, given they saw their mother's dead body covered in blood.

The oldest child was indifferent the entire time. Emily's oldest, Keegan, was only thirteen years old. Keegan took the twins to school and went to school himself before Emily went to work. But that day, Phantom had gotten into the house and killed her. The police had asked every person who knew Emily, and couldn't find anything that would give Phantom a motive to kill her. She was liked by all the neighbors, she was on the PTA, and was always at local social functions.

The children were being held in foster care until the police finished the investigation. They had questioned Keegan, and he answered all the police's questions, but wasn't acting like a child who found their dead mother should. _'Sure it could be because it's not seen as 'cool' for boys his age to cry, but seeing something as traumatizing as that, you'd think he'd be a little sad."_

Keegan hasn't shown any emotion to the police when they were questioning him. This wasn't shocking to any of the kids who knew him. They said that he never shows any emotion at school and didn't have any friends. What was weird was that ever since his mother's death, he had been talking and smiling more in school. Both teachers and students said that he had never seemed this happy in school since any of them knew him. Apparently he was considered an outsider, and was bullied by many of his peers.

_'Now that brings back some memories.'_ Dash chuckled to himself as he remembered his high school years. He had been one of the worst bullies in his four years at Casper High. His main target was Danny Fenton. The smaller boy had always been a target for bullying, most likely because of his scrawny physique. Dash had tormented him for the majority of their high school career, but stopped towards the end of their senior year. During the last few months, they had formed almost a friendship, but Danny had disappeared after graduation, and nobody knew where to, not even his family.

Dash was broken out of his thoughts by a phone ringing. He turned to look at the officer sitting next to him, who was talking on the phone hurriedly. She finished up the call quickly and turned to him.

"What's the problem?" Dash asked, all thoughts of Danny and Keegan disappearing from his mind, now fully focused on the woman talking to him.

"There's been a murder, in an alley by the condos downtown. They said it looks like a Phantom murder, but they're not sure, so they want you to come down and look at it to see what you think." she said.

"Okay, I'll go down there now." Dash said, standing up and putting the file back in his desk. "Do you have the address?"

The other officer gave him the address, and Dash thanked her before walking out of the precinct and to his car. He looked at the address again, and turned on his lights before taking off.


	3. Chapter 3

"Talking"

'_Danny thinking'_

'Narrator talking to Danny'

Chapter 3

Mr. Jones dropped his drink and whirled around at the sound of Danny's voice. He stood there staring at him in silence with Danny staring right back. The staring contest went on for a few minutes until Mr. Jones finally broke the silence.

"Who are you?" Mr. Jones asked, a lot calmer than Danny would have thought.

"My name isn't important." Danny said, standing up.

"Why are you here? How did you get in?" he asked, getting angrier.

"Rachel." Danny said, inching closer.

"Rachel? How do you know her? And you still didn't tell me how you got in."

Danny walked past him, and to the window. He looked out of it and to the ground. Underneath the window was an empty alley. _'Perfect.'_

"It's a bit stuffy in here, don't you think?" Danny said opening the window.

"Will you answer me?" Mr. Jones said, shouting now.

"Answer what?" Danny smirked, knowing Mr. Jones couldn't see him. _'I love playing with them.'_

'This is why I used the term murderer, and not hitman.'

_'Oh, shut up.'_

Mr. Jones sputtered a bit before yelling again. "Answer what? How do you know Rachel? How did you get in here? Who are you?"

Danny looked at him. "I know Rachel because she asked for my help."

"So why are you here?" Mr. Jones asked, becoming even more annoyed with the stranger in his apartment.

"I was able to get in here because you weren't careful enough with your old set of keys."

Mr. Jones froze, and his face turned red. "Are you telling me you stole my keys?"

"Rachel wanted my help because you cheated on her."

"Oh, so what are you going to do? Beat me up? Teach me a lesson?" Mr. Jones asked, laughing now.

"You wanted to know who I was." Danny said, turning around.

"Yes, I would." Mr. Jones said, sneering.

"Well you wouldn't know my real name. But I am rather famous under my other name."

"Well what is your other name?"

Danny stared at him for a few seconds before answering. "Phantom."

Mr. Jones's eyes widened, but he couldn't react more than that because Danny had punched him in the face. He stumbled backwards but regained his footing quickly.

It wasn't long until Danny was on him again, punching him in the stomach. Mr. Jones doubled over, and Danny grabbed his hair and the back of his shirt, preventing him from standing back up.

"Rachel sends her regards." Danny whispered harshly into Mr. Jones ear, before pulling him forward, and pushing him out of the window. He waited until he heard his body hit the ground before closing the window, and turning to exit the apartment. He went down the elevator, and walked out of the back of the building. He walked back to his apartment through the alleyways.

He never noticed the police cars in the same alley Mr. Jones fell into.


	4. Chapter 4

"Talking"

'_Dash thinking'_

Chapter Four

Dash sat in his car at the red light waiting for it to turn green. He was almost at the scene of the murder, and he was thinking about the past cases of Phantom. He didn't know why the other officers didn't know for certain that it was another Phantom murder, but he did know that something was different about this one that made them doubt it, so either it was an attempted copycat.

_'Or Phantom finally screwed up.'_ Dash thought, smirking. The thought made him want to celebrate. This could be it. The day that he gets evidence pointing to someone, and when he finally catches Phantom, he would be seen as a hero in the city.

_'Heh. I guess some things from high school haven't changed at all; I still love the spotlight.'_ He thought, laughing to himself. Dash checked to make sure the light was still red before staring out his window.

_'Although, I am a lot more humble than back…'_ Dash was broken from his thoughts as he spotted a man walking out of an alley and down the sidewalk. The man had dark hair, and ice-blue eyes. He looked so familiar, but it couldn't be who he thinks it is.

_'Fenton?'_ Dash continued staring at the man as he passed his car. He stopped, and seeming to sense that Dash was staring at him, and turned to look at Dash. Dash was too shocked to realize that the light had turned green, until the car behind him beeped the horn and Dash started, jumping and hitting his head on the roof of the car.

The man laughed, and turned to continue walking down the street. Dash drove forward, watching the man in his side mirror until he was out of view. Dash continued driving towards the murder scene, with his mind still racing, but not about Phantom.

_'Could that have really been Fenton?'_ Dash wondered. At the end of his high school career, he had started being friendlier to Fenton. At first he didn't know why he wanted to do that, just assuming he had grown up. But he got a little excited whenever he was near Fenton, the same excitement he got when he touched the boy to push him or shove him into a locker. It wasn't until some of his friends from the football team were joking, saying that Dash had a crush on Fenton, and he was courting him.

At first Dash had been completely appalled at first, but later that night, he was thinking about it, and then eventually the idea of him and Fenton dating, and then how nice it would be to date Fenton. When he realized what he was thinking, he didn't flip out. And he wasn't disgusted by the idea. No, his reaction was a simple, "Oh, shit."

Dash accepted his crush, and if he held Danny's book bag every once in a while, or saved him a seat next to him at the lunch table every couple of days after that, no one said anything. Then graduation came, and Dash had offered to take Danny to the party at Kwan's house. He had noticed Danny had been different lately; quieter, and he seemed to get angrier easier. Danny had declined his offer, saying he might come later. Dash accepted it, and went to the party, waiting for Danny to show up the entire time. He never did. And the next day, the geeks that followed him around were freaking out about how Danny packed an entire bag and just left. They searched for him for about two months before they gave up.

_'Okay, there's no need to make yourself all depressed now.'_ Dash thought, pulling himself out of his thoughts as he arrived at the alley where the body was. He pulled over, and got out of his car, waving over one of the officers on the side that was controlling the crowd trying to see what was going on. The officer walked over, leaving the crowd in the hands of the other five officers.

"What happened?" Dash questioned immediately, wanting to get to the point as quickly as possible.

"Two officers were sitting in their car in the alleyway doing a routine patrol, you know, for traffic. And suddenly they heard a bang behind them, so they get out to check what it was. And when they get out, they see the guy's body on the ground, on top of a trash can lid that was on the ground."

Dash nodded and thanked the officer, before running down the alley to the body.

"So what's the cause of death?" Dash asked.

"Well he died from hitting the ground, so they weren't disposing the body out the window." said the officer that was examining the body.

"Were there any signs of struggle?"

"Uh, yeah. There were bruises on his face and stomach."

Dash froze, realizing why the officers weren't sure if it was Phantom or not. "And Phantom has never left signs of an altercation before."

"Yep. That's why we weren't sure if it was Phantom." the officer said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Were there any witnesses?"

"Um, not eyewitnesses. But the lady at the front desk did report seeing a suspicious character walk in a few minutes before the murder."

"Did she give a description?"

"Yeah. She said he was wearing a red hoodie and black ripped skinny jeans. And he had dark hair and ice blue eyes."

Dash froze, realizing who the lady had described.


	5. Chapter 5

"Talking"

'_Danny thinking'_

'Narrator talking to Danny'

Chapter Five

_'Of course they chose the day I was counting on going through the alleys to have a fight.'_ Danny thought as he exited the alley onto the main street. They referring to the "gang", as they called themselves, that usually hung around in the alleys. Danny passed them on multiple occasions, only having trouble once; one of the men had tried to mug him. Danny did what any "sane" person would do: laughed in his face.

'_Wait, why was sane in quotes?'_

'Because a sane person would never do that. It was sarcasm.'

'_I don't deserve this, I'm a nice person.'_

'You kill people.'

'…_I'm not talking to you anymore.'_

That did not make the man happy, so he had pulled out a knife and tried to stab Danny. Danny grabbed the knife, and beat the man unconscious. The gang was dumbfounded, and just stood there as Danny saluted them a goodbye and went on his way. Danny has passed them multiple times after that, and has never had any trouble. The gang had almost a respect for him now; every time he passed them, a few of them would nod at him, and even a few days ago the man that tried to mug him apologized.

Today though, a fight had broken out between two members of the gang. The rest of the members were forming a circle around them, and since it was a narrow alleyway, he couldn't get past them. He had to go back about a block, and come out of the alley.

_'Bunch of useless, good-for-nothing…'_ Danny trailed out of his thoughts as he walked down the street. He felt like someone was staring at him. He looked into the street and saw a man staring at him out of his car.

_'Oh lord please don't be one of those annoying cat-callers.'_ Danny thought as he passed, but as he looked closer, the man looked familiar to him. _'Hold on. Blond hair, blue eyes, and he has the shoulders of a football player. Oh god. It's Dash.'_ Danny thought as he continued to stare at the man. He saw the light turn green out of the corner of his eye, and noticed that Dash didn't see that. _'This is going to be amusing.'_ Danny thought.

The moment he thought that, the car behind Dash's beeped the horn, and Dash jumped ad hit his head on the roof of the car. Danny started laughing, and walked down the street. Dash car passed him, and he could see Dash staring at him in his side-view mirror until his car was out of sight.

_ 'Haven't seen him since high school.'_ Danny thought as he continued to walk down the street. Danny had realized he was gay in the end of his sophomore year, and had developed a crush on Dash. Dash had been a bully to Danny since the beginning of high school, and they had formed an almost-friendship near the end of their senior year. Danny was happy, and was flattered whenever Dash would do something nice for him, like carrying his bag, or saving a seat for him on the days they ate lunch together.

Danny remembered the day of their graduation. By then, he had lots of problems controlling his anger and emotions. He was happy when Dash had asked him to Kwan's party, but he had been having nightmares the few days before the party, and was going to go home and try to sleep, but on the way home, something had happened. Danny didn't know what it was, but it affected him greatly. As he got home, he was a mess. He was angry and sad at the same time. He was crying and his powers were—

'_No, no, no. Don't bring them up.'_

'Sorry.'

Danny had arrived at the coffee shop he was a regular at, and decided to buy a drink. He entered, and saw he was the only person in there, other than the barista that always served Danny when he went there. Danny walked up to the counter, and the barista smirked at him.

"What'll it be this time, Danny?"

'_Maybe I should learn his name sometime. Although it doesn't hold any importance right now, so why should it matter?'_

'Common courtesy?'

'_Shh.'_

"Vanilla chai tea latte. Large." Danny said, already pulling out the money from his wallet. _'I'll try something new.'_

"Coming right up." the barista said, turning to fix his drink. "Is that for here or to go?"

"To go." Danny stood at the counter, holding the money, waiting for the barista to finish with his drink.

A few minutes later, the barista was putting Danny's drink on the counter, and took the money.

"You know, I've never seen you come in here with someone else. Do you ever have any dates, or friends to come here with?"

"No, not particularly." Danny said in a deadpan. _'Just put the money in the register and give me my change.'_

"Well, you know, if you ever want to do something sometime, I would be happy to do something with you."

_'My drink is getting cold. Wait, did he just ask me out? Why would I want to do that? Well, it would be nice to go out with someone, especially after Bradley. What the hell.' _

"Yeah, that'd be nice." Danny said, smiling.

"Sweet. So, uh, how about you give me your number, and I'll call you sometime?" the barista said, putting Danny's money in the register, and pulling out the change.

"Sure." Danny grabbed a napkin, and pulled out a permanent marker, and jotted down his phone number.

Danny handed the barista the napkin, and the barista handed Danny his drink and change.

"So I'll see you soon, I guess." the barista smiled as he pocketed the napkin, and started cleaning the counter.

"Yeah." Danny said as he left.

Danny was almost past the shop when he stopped suddenly.

"Fuck!" Danny exclaimed, and slapped his head. He ran back the store and paked his head in. "Hey!"

The barista looked up and smiled. "Yeah?"

"What's your name?"

The barista's smile dropped. "Are you serious?"


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Hey guys. Sorry I hadn't updated in a while, I'd been busy with midterms but they're over now so I'm back.

"Talking"

'_Thinking'_

Chapter Six

Dash had just finished up with the crime scene, and was driving back home after having gotten his belongings from his desk at the precinct. He was thinking about the witness's description of the suspect, and couldn't shake the thought that it could be Danny from his mind. He hadn't said anything about seeing someone fitting the description, and he probably should have. He just couldn't deal with the idea of someone like Danny, killing people mercilessly.

_'He's too kind to do anything like that. He always avoided conflict when he could.'_ Dash thought, trying to concentrate on driving. _'It is possible it was just someone that looks like Danny. Yeah. That's probably it. They looked like Danny, and Danny has nothing to do with any murders.'_ Dash was on his way to a coffee shop his coworker had recommended to him, and he had decided now was the perfect time to get caffeine. He turned the corner, and could see it down the street. He parked the car a little way's away, and started walking down the street towards the shop.

_'Though that would mean, that Danny isn't here, and he's still missing. And that means anything could have happened to him. Which is just as bad.'_ Dash thought. He sighed and looked down, and was about to open the door to the shop as it slammed open. He looked up, and saw the person he saw in his car earlier, still wearing the same outfit that was described. He was muttering to himself, and Dash tried to hear what he was saying.

"Jason. What a fitting name. Although I don't understand why he was so surprised that I didn't know it, he never told me. Stop with the common courtesy thing you should know I have none." the man was silent for a moment, seeming to listen to something that only he could hear. "Are you saying I'm an inconsiderate person because that is not true-"

"Excuse me." Dash said, interrupting the man.

"Yes?" he looked at Dash, forgetting about whatever he was saying beforehand.

"I'm sorry but you look really familiar, what's your name?"

The man seemed slightly insulted at the question, and seemed to listen to something again, but instead of answering like he did before, he chose to answer Dash instead.

"Danny."

"Danny? Danny Fenton?" Dash asked hopefully.

"Yes."

"Oh my god. I thought I knew you. It's me, Dash. Dash Baxter, from high school." Dash was ecstatic. That means Danny wasn't missing, and he was okay. _'Well probably not completely. He was talking to himself.' _Dash thought, grinning wide.

"I know it's you Dash. I saw you in the car earlier." Danny said, frowning slightly. "You were looking right at me. I thought you recognized me. You didn't?"

Now it looked like Danny was about to cry, and he was beginning to yell, and people were staring. _'Okay, he's definitely not completely okay. At least not emotionally or mentally.'_ Dash was starting to panic.

"No, no, no, no, no. I thought it was you. I just wanted to make sure. I promise." Dash said, scrambling to keep the man from losing it completely.

"Really?" Danny said, looking up at Dash with tear-filled eyes.

"Yes. I swear." Dash said gently.

Danny stared at him, and at first Dash thought he was going to cry, and was surprised when he broke out into a huge smile.

"Okay!" Danny said cheerfully, all traces of sadness gone from his voice. "How have you been? I haven't seen you since graduation!"

_'Oh my god. He is not alright at all.'_ Dash thought, smiling at Danny. "Yeah, I haven't seen you since you left."

Danny's smile dropped, and his face grew hard. "Yeah." he said tightly.

Dash was confused, but he didn't comment on it. He decided to change the topic quickly so he wouldn't upset Danny even more. "So what have you been up to?"

"Not much." Danny said, still looking unhappy, but not sounding as angry as he did before.

"I see. So, um, would you like to hang out sometime, like we did in high school? It could be fun." Dash asked uncertainly, not knowing how to judge Danny's reaction. He had no doubt that he had issues, and didn't want to make him mad.

"Yeah, that'd be great! Are you doing anything Friday?" Danny asked, looking up at Dash in anticipation.

"No, I'm free! What do you want to do?"

"Let's go to the park!" Danny said in excitement.

Dash thought the suggestion was a little weird, especially considering they were both grown men, but Danny looked so excited, and he's been pretty unpredictable in this conversation alone. He couldn't help but agree.

"Sure. That sounds like fun." Dash said.

"Yay! Let's meet up around three!"

"Sure, that sounds great. I'll see you then." Dash said.

"Okay. Bye!" Danny said, walking down the street.

"Bye." Dash said, opening the door to the shop. He watched Danny until he was out of sight, and turned to go in the shop. The door closed behind him, and he looked up to see the barista glaring at him.


	7. Chapter 7

"Talking"

'_Thinking'_

'Narrator talking to Danny'

Chapter Seven

"Yes. Why would I joke about that?" Danny inquired, tilting his head in confusion at the barista.

"Oh. Well, it just seemed like you knew it. I mean, you're a regular here, and I serve you about eighty-five percent of the time…" the barista trailed off, noticing Danny still looked confused. "Jason. My name is Jason."

"Oh. That's a nice name! See you later!" Danny waved, and slammed open the door of the café, just barely missing the man walking in.

"Jason. What a fitting name. Although I don't understand why he was so surprised that I didn't know it, he never told me."

'Well if you had even a tiny amount of common courtesy you would have known it.'

"Stop with the common courtesy thing you should know I have none."

'Well if you actually wanted to date him you should learn his name considering he actually wants to hang out with you.'

"Are you saying I'm an inconsiderate person because that is not true-"

"Excuse me." the man Danny almost hit with the door said, interrupting him.

"Yes?" Danny asked, disregarding what he was saying. _'It's Dash!'_

"I'm sorry but you look really familiar, what's your name?" Dash asked, looking hopeful.

_'He doesn't recognize me? I thought he did. He was staring at me from the car earlier.'_

'Well maybe he thought it was you, but wasn't sure.'

_'Maybe.'_

"Danny." he answered, slightly disappointed.

"Danny? Danny Fenton?" Dash asked, looking even more hopeful than before.

"Yes."

"Oh my god. I thought I knew you. It's me, Dash. Dash Baxter, from high school." Dash said, looking excited.

'I told you he thought it was you.'

_'Yeah, well, I'm going to make him feel bad for worrying me.'_

'Oh, lord.'

Danny forced his eyes to fill up with tears, and looked at Dash. "I know it's you, Dash. I saw you in the car earlier. You were looking right at me. I thought you recognized me. You didn't?"

Danny could see that Dash was starting to panic, and smirked to himself. "No, no, no, no, no. I thought it was you. I just wanted to make sure. I promise."

"Really?" Danny sniffled, and looked up at Dash.

"Yes. I swear." Dash said gently.

Danny stared at him, and eventually broke into a huge smile.

"Okay! How have you been? I haven't seen you since graduation!"

"Yeah, I haven't seen you since you left."

Danny's smile disappeared. "Yeah."

Danny could see that Dash was confused, but decided to drop it/

'_Wisely.'_

"So what have you been up to?" Dash asked.

"Not much." Danny said, still seeming unhappy.

"I see. So, um, would you like to hang out sometime, like we did in high school? It could be fun." Dash asked.

"Yeah, that'd be great! Are you doing anything Friday?" Danny said, looking up at Dash in anticipation.

"No, I'm free! What do you want to do?"

"Let's go to the park!"

"Sure. That sounds like fun."

"Yay!" Let's meet up around three!"

"Sure, that sounds great. I'll see you then."

"Okay. Bye!" Danny said, starting to walk down the street.

"Bye." Dash said, opening the door to the shop.

'_I have a date with Dash Friday. Why couldn't this have happened in high school?'_

'Because you never made a move.'

'_Well what was I supposed to do I thought he hated me for the majority of school?'_

'What about when he became your friend?'

'_I didn't want to lose him. I preferred to have him as only a friend instead of losing him altogether.'_

Danny walked into the lobby of his apartment building and started walking up the steps to his apartment on the sixth floor. He pulls out the key, and unlocks the door. He pushes it open, and takes off his shoes. When he turns to go to the couch, he freezes, and stares at the older man sitting there.

"Hello, Daniel."


	8. Chapter 8

"Talking"

'_Thinking'_

Chapter Eight

Dash walked up to the counter, unsure as to why the barista was glaring at him like that. He stood and looked at the menu, seeing what seemed good, when a voice broke him out of his thoughts.

"So how do you know Danny?" the barista asked tightly, glaring even harder than before. _'If that's even possible.'_ Dash thought, raising an eyebrow at the fuming man.

"Pardon?" Dash questioned confusedly, growing uncomfortable.

"You heard me. How do you know Danny?"

_'What the hell is this guy's problem?'_ Dash thought, already becoming irked by the situation. "We were friends in high school. Why?"

"Were? So you're not anymore?" the barista seemed happy with this, if the smirk on his face was any indication.

"No we are, we had just, uh, lost touch, after graduation." Dash explained.

"I see." the barista, seeming displeased by this, and he and Dash stood in silence for a moment before Dash decided to question the man again.

"So why do you want to know all this?"

"I wanted to make sure you weren't making a move on him. Did you decide on what you want?" the barista got ready to punch Dash's order into the cash register.

"Uh, just a regular coffee. Medium." the barista entered the order, and began making the drink. "So what did you mean 'wanted to make sure I wasn't making a move on him'?" Dash leaned over the counter slightly, watching the barista move around behind the counter.

"Well he and I are dating, so I wanted to make sure you weren't going to try and get him to go out with you." the barista talked over his shoulder, pouring the coffee into a cup. _'Dating? Then why did he agree to go out with me on Friday? Well I guess neither of us made it clear on whether it was a date or not.'_

"Dating?" Dash said out loud. "I, uh, never knew he swung that way."

"Well he does, and we're going out, so if you're planning on trying to go out with him, I'm just letting you know that he's not available." the barista set the cup on the counter, and pressed a few buttons on the cash register. "Your total is $3.67."

Dash handed over the money, and waited for his change. He picked up his drink. He took a sip, and the barista started to hand him his change. Dash went to take it, but the barista wouldn't let go. "Remember, stay away from Danny."

Dash raised his eyebrow. "Yeah, I'll be sure to do that." Dash said sarcastically. He yanked the change out of the barista's hand, and walked out of the door. He started walking towards his car, lifting his drink to his lips.

_'That was weird.' _Dash thought, unlocking his car, and sliding into the front seat. He set his coffee in the cup holder, and started his car. He pulled out into traffic, and started down the street. _'I can't believe Danny's dating someone. Or that he is actually into guys. But I still have a small chance with him. Maybe. This Friday is my chance. I have to make this count.'_

Dash drove the rest of the way home, thinking of ways he could win Danny over. He pulled into his driveway, and got out of the car. He grabbed his coffee cup, and walked to the door, getting his keys out. _'We could have a picnic. No, we tried that in high school before, and that did not go well.'_

Dash unlocked the door, and walked into his house. He finished his coffee, and threw the cup away. He went into the living room to watch TV, and as he sat down on the couch, his phone began ringing. He looked at the caller id, and smiled. It was his best friend, Kwan. After high school, Kwan had gone to medical school, and became a doctor, and ever since, he's been too busy to be able to talk to Dash as much. Dash answered the phone, ad greeted his friend.

"Hey! Kwan! How's it going?"

"Good. Although I'm starting to regret becoming a pediatrician."

"And why's that?"

"If one more child bites my fingers, I'm going to lose them." Dash laughed at this, and he could hear Kwan object from the other line.

"Hey! Like you're doing any better."

"Actually I am. I mean, it's no losing fingers but it's a close second."

"Haha you're so funny! But what's a close second?"

"You're never going to believe this, but, I found Danny."

"Danny? You mean Danny Fenton?"

"Yes."

"Holy shit. I don't think anyone has heard from him since graduation. Not even his family. And he just turned up out of nowhere? That's amazing."

"Yeah."

"So are you going to make a move?" Kwan was the only person he ever told about his crush.

"I don't know. I had gone to get coffee today and the barista said that he and Danny were dating."

"Oh. That sucks. But you said 'he and Danny'. That means that Danny is at least into guys. So you still have a chance."

"Yeah. He and I agreed to meet up Friday to catch up but…"

"But what?"

"I think there's something wrong with him."

"What do you mean?"

"During our conversation, his emotions were all over the place. Like at one point he was almost crying and screaming, and the next second he's smiling and laughing."

"That's weird."

"And when I first ran into him, he was talking to himself."

"Well, that's not so weird. A lot of people talk to themselves."

"No this was, different. It was like he was talking to a completely different person, but in his head."

"Hmm. That does seem weird. Maybe he was just having a hard day."

"Maybe."

"Yeah. Look, I have an appointment in like two minutes, so I have to go."

"M'kay. Talk to you later."

"Yeah."

Dash hung up, and flipped on the TV. He watched whatever was on the channel that turned on for a few hours, until he fell asleep on the couch, hoping to get a few hours' sleep before having to wake up for work.


	9. Chapter 9

"Talking"

'_Thinking'_

'Narrator talking to Danny'

Chapter Nine

"Hello, Daniel." the snobbish voice said from the couch. Vlad was sitting with his arms flung back over the back of the couch, holding a beer in his hand. He had the TV on, and was watching a football game, the Packers.

_'Of course.'_ Danny rolled his eyes. He walked to the kitchen and opened the fridge. "Do you always wait for people alone in their house, or am I a special exception?" Danny asked while grabbing his own beer, and walked into the living room. He plopped down on the couch next to Vlad, and opened his beer.

"Oh, you're special all right." Vlad said, polishing off his beer. He sat the empty can down on the table, and leaned back into the couch.

"Haha. Who's winning so far?"

"The Packers. Game wouldn't still be on if they weren't."

"Ah."

They sat in silence for a while, watching the game. The other team made a touchdown and a field goal, while the Packers made two touchdowns. It was about thirty minutes before Vlad broke the silence.

"Your parents still worry about you, you know. Jasmine as well."

"So?"

"_So_, you should go back-"

"Don't start this again. You know why I can't go back."

Vlad grabbed the remote, and turned off the TV. "No, I don't. I know why you left, but that problem is gone now. There is no reason for you not to go back." Danny stared at his feet, not responding. "So why haven't you gone back?"

"I can't."

"But why?"

"Because. The problem is gone for now, and not even completely."

"Are you still hearing his voice?"

"Yes. But he's really calmed down. It's sort of like a friend talking almost. But I don't know if he'll go back to how he was before."

"Well, he has no power now. He probably got sick of talking big all the time, and not being able to act on it, so is just acting normal." Vlad said with false hope in his voice. Danny was worried at the fact that even Vlad didn't believe what he was saying.

'You both do realize I can still hear you?'

_'Shut up.'_

"Yeah. I guess so." Danny said.

"Good." Vlad said. The smug look on his face gave what he was thinking away to Danny.

"I'm still not going back."

Vlad sighed, and grabbed the remote once again. "Very well." He flipped the TV back onto the game, the Packers still winning, with ten minutes left in the game. They watched in silence, and when the Packers eventually won the game Vlad left.

Danny switched through channels before settling on a random reality TV show, and watched that for half an hour before deciding to go out to get some dinner. He grabbed his jacket and went downstairs to the lobby. He walked out of the building, and turned down the street, heading downtown. He walked for about ten minutes before he got to a street that was mainly restaurants. He was deciding which one to go to, when he heard a bang in a nearby alleyway. He looked down, and listened for more noises when he didn't see anything. He heard another bang, and what sounded like people arguing.

He walked down the alley, and peeked around the corner. He saw two men blocking a woman from leaving the alley. All three have obviously been drinking, the woman more than the men. He listened to their conversation.

"Come on baby. You can't just pass us looking that good and refuse." the first guy said. He was about 6'3", and was slim, but still muscular enough to be able to restrain the woman.

"Yeah. You know you want to do it. Maybe a little three way?" the second guy was shorter than the first guy, about 5'5", four inches taller than the woman, and what he lacked in height, he made up in muscle. He was probably about twice the size of the woman.

"No, please, I don't want to." the woman slurred, somehow slipping in between the men, but before she could stumble away, the taller of the men grabbed her arm and slammed her against the wall.

Before he could say anything to the woman, Danny stepped from behind the wall. "Hey!" the two men turned to look at him. "What are you doing? She said 'no'. Leave her the hell alone!"

The men stepped away from the woman, who had enough sense to stumble out of the alley onto the street. "Who do you think you're talking to?"

"A bunch of dicks that are apparently too idiotic to know what a simple word like 'no' means."

"Why, you little piece of shit." the taller guy started walking to him beginning to raise his fist, when he abruptly stopped, and stared at Danny. "What the fuck. The hell is happening to his eyes?" he backed away, and Danny saw his reflection in the window of the building behind them, and he saw something he hadn't seen in a long time.

His eyes were glowing green.


	10. Chapter 10

"Talking"

'_Thinking'_

A/N: this chapter contains graphic descriptions of mutilated bodies, so if you aren't good with that, I suggest you skip the two paragraphs after Dash says, "I think I'll be fine."

Chapter Ten

Dash woke up to his alarm blaring next to his ear. He grumbled, and snuggled further into the back of the couch, and ignored the alarm. He laid there for another minute or so, before reaching blindly for his phone on the coffee table. He looked at the phone, squinting from the brightness, and turned off the alarm. He sat up on the couch, and rubbed his hands over his face. He stood up, and walked into the kitchen to make a pot of coffee. After getting the coffee brewing, he walked upstairs to get his shower.

He entered the shower, and let the stream of water hit his back for a few minutes. _'I wonder why that guy was so protective over Danny.' _Dash poured shampoo into his hand, and rubbed it into his hair. _'Yeah he was pretty weird and wimpy in high school, but he doesn't seem like the type to cheat, and it seems like he could handle himself pretty well in a fight now.' _He washed the shampoo out of his hair, and began washing his body. _'I suppose he's just one of those jealous types.' _He rinsed the soap off his body, and turned the water off.

He grabbed his towel and dried his body and hair off, and stepped out of the shower. He wrapped the towel around his waist. He walked to his bedroom, and paused when he passed the full length mirror on his closet door. _'I should start going to the gym again.'_ he thought, rubbing his stomach. '_I hope he's not one of those jealous types. They are very annoying to deal with.'_ He opened his dresser and pulled out some underwear.

He out on his underwear, and got dressed. He went downstairs, and grabbed his phone. He looked at it, and found it at twenty one percent. _'Shit. I'll have to charge it at work.'_ He put it in his pocket, and went into the kitchen. He poured himself a cup of coffee. He didn't have to be at work until 7:30, and it was 6:30 now, so he had some time to sit and relax before he had to leave.

Dash sat down after preparing his coffee, and was about to take a sip when his phone rang. He sat the mug down, and pulled his phone out of his pocket. He looked at the caller id, and groaned. He answered the call and held the phone up to his ear. "Hello?"

"Dash! The chief wanted me to tell you that you need to go to another murder scene immediately."

"What? Where?"

"An alley between the Pizza Hut and McDonald's on Fifth. You know where that is?"

"Yeah. Are you with him?"

"Yes."

"Okay. Tell him I'll be there in about ten minutes."

"Okay."

Dash hung up, and stared at his coffee. _'So much for relaxing before work.'_

Dash pulled up the street next to the entrance of the alley, and turned the car off. He looked at the alley, and saw people crowding around the entrance, which was taped off. He got out, and walked to the alley. He pushed through the crowd, and ducked underneath the tape. He saw the chief talking to another officer, and walked over.

"Dash. Thank god you're here. This is crazy." the chief said when he saw him.

"What happened?"

"There was another murder, and I'm not sure whether or not there's another killer in the city, or if Phantom has completely lost it."

"Can I see?"

"Sure, but it's gruesome. We've had three officers get sick."

"I think I'll be fine."

The chief shrugged, and led Dash to the bodies, which were still in the position they were in when they died. Dash was confident that he would be fine, but nothing could have prepared him for what he was seeing. There were two bodies, the one that still looked human was on its knees, with its hands clasped together, like it was begging before it died. The head was only held onto the body by a thin strip of skin, and was dangling on the back of the body. There was a hole through its chest that looked like it was melted out of the body.

The second body was hardly a body, the arms and legs had all been cut off, and were laying in a pile next to the rest of the body. The face had been melted, and the torso looked like an animal had dug away pieces of the flesh. Dash looked at the wall over the dumpster, and almost vomited at the sight. Nailed to the wall, were two penises, and written underneath the them in blood was the word "rapists".

Dash covered his mouth and nose with his hand. The smell was sickening. And so was the sight. He turned around, and left the alley, the chief close behind. Once he was out where the air didn't reek with the smell of rotting bodies, he took a deep breath, and knelt over, trying to concentrate on not throwing up.

Once he was sure nothing was coming out, he stood up straight and turned to the chief. "This doesn't seem like something Phantom would do." Dash said, breathing in deep.

"Yeah, but you never know. We haven't found any witnesses, but we're going to put an announcement on the news to see if anyone knows anything." the chief said. "Why don't you go home for the rest of the day. You don't seem to be doing good."

Dash was about the refuse, but he thought about the sight of the bodies, and almost lost it again. "Yeah that's probably a good idea." He walked to his car, and got in. He started the engine, and opened a window, breathing in the air as he drove home.


	11. Chapter 11

"Talking."

'_Danny thinking.'_

'Narrator talking to Danny.'

Chapter Eleven

Danny laid on his couch staring at his TV. The silence pounded in his ears as he furrowed his eyebrows and concentrated even more on the black screen.

'You know, the TV is a lot more entertaining when it's turned _on_.'

"Shut up."

'Come on, don't act like this is all my fault. You were the one that lost control.'

"I know." Danny's phone vibrated on the side table, and he sat up.

'So why are you mad at me? You should be mad at your lack of control.'

_'If I hear his smug voice one more time…'_

"Hello?"

"Daniel James Fenton, this story on the news better not have anything to do with you or I swear…"

"Vlad."

"…do you not have any comprehension of the consequences of your actions? No, obviously…"

"Vlad."

"…because if you did you would have handled the situation with a little more thought. I understand that they were bad people…"

"Vlad!"

"…but don't you think this will draw suspicion to where you are. A normal human wouldn't be able to melt another human. This could draw so much attention…"

"VLAD!"

"Yes?"

"Calm down."

There was a pause on the other end of the phone. He heard Vlad hang up, and jumped as a cloud of purple smoke filled the room. He stared at the man, now in his ghost form.

"Calm down? Calm down! You've drawn so much attention to your city that the possibility of people you don't want investigating coming here is enormous! Do you really expect your parents not to take that chance, especially with how paranoid they are about ghosts? Or what about Ms. Manson and Mr. Foley? Don't you think that they would think it was you?"

"I'm sorry." Danny looked down with tears in his eyes. Vlad's eyes softened, and he changed back to his human form with a sigh. He sat on the couch next to Danny, and put his arm around him. Danny leaned into him and let the tears fall.

"What happened?" Vlad said, rubbing Danny's back.

"I lost control, and he took over."

"How did you lose control?"

"I was only trying to scare them away from the lady. I didn't want to hurt them that badly. I saw my reflection in a window. My eyes were glowing, and I lost all of my control over him." Danny was bawling now, and Vlad was having a hard time understanding him.

"Don't worry little badger. It's fine."

"NO!" Vlad started. "No! It's not. If I lost control that easily, what about now? What can make me lose concentration now?"

The two sat in silence for a few moments, until Vlad started speaking again. "How about you start using your powers again?"

Danny sniffled, and wiped his nose. "What?"

"If we get you used to your ghost side coming out, you won't lose your concentration when it shows through. And it will help you with your current _occupation_." Vlad said with a hint of disgust.

Danny giggled. He knew Vlad wasn't a big fan of what he did for a living, but he supported him as long as he did it for good reasons, which he did.

"Yeah. I guess you're right."

"I always am."

"Shut up." Danny punched Vlad in his shoulder, and stood up.

"Well it's true." Vlad laughed.

"Yeah, sure." Danny started walking towards his bedroom.

"Where are you going?"

"To bed. It's eleven at night here."

"Ah. When will you start using your powers again?"

Danny paused at his bedroom door. "I guess tomorrow. I'll fly around for a bit."

"Good." Vlad changed back into his ghost form. "Goodnight, little badger."

"Goodnight."

Vlad transported back to his house, and Danny walked into his room and shut the door. He undressed until he was only in his boxers, and climbed into his bed.

_'Let's hope for the best.'_

He laid under the covers for almost half an hour, before finally falling into a restless sleep.


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: I'm sorry it took so long for this chapter to be added, but I've been overwhelmed with schoolwork and personal issues and it's been hard for me to get the motivation to finish it, but I did it, so yay! I can't guarantee when the next chapter will be posted but I promise I'll post it the moment I finish it.

"Talking"

'_Dash thinking'_

Chapter Twelve

The next day, Dash was sitting on his couch watching the news report on the murders. He grimaced at the image that appeared in his head when the reporter described the state that the bodies were found in. He quickly turned off the TV, and went into the kitchen.

He started a pot of coffee, and sat at the table waiting for it to brew.

_'I need to get my mind off of this. Today's…what's today?'_ Dash looked at his phone. _'Friday. 2:30 on a Friday and I have nothing to do. I thought I was supposed to do something today.'_

The coffee maker beeped, signaling the pot was done. Dash poured a cup and fixed it to his liking. He sat back down on the couch, and went on his phone. He checked all of his social media, and stayed on Facebook for a while.

_'I wonder if Danny has a Facebook. Wait.'_ Dash checked the time, which read 2:53. "SHIT!" Dash stood up and rushed out the door, remembering what he had to do. He started jogging to the park, which was about ten blocks from his house.

He checked his watch and saw that he had five minutes left to make it to the park on time. He turned the corner and saw Danny was waiting by the gate to enter the park tapping at his phone. Dash slowed down until he was walking at a normal pace, and tried to control his breathing.

"Hey, Danny!" Danny looked up from his phone, and smiled. He put his phone in his pocket and ran over to Dash.

"Dash! I didn't think you'd make it on time!" Danny hugged Dash from around his waist and picked him up and spun him around once before setting him down. Dash stared at him in awe for a few seconds before Danny looked at him confusedly.

"What?"

"You picked me up." They started walking into the park.

"Yeah?"

"How? You're still a scrawny little thing!" Dash was joking with him, as Danny was probably a lot stronger than he was in high school, but it was still hard to see him picking up a guy as big as Dash.

Danny paused in his steps and for a second Dash thought he had upset him until he whipped around.

"Magic." Danny whispered leaning up towards Dash's face. He got closer while staring into Dash's eyes. Dash gulped out of nervousness, and started to lean in as well.

"Race you to the swing set." Danny said, and with that he turned around and ran towards the play area, leaving Dash on the pathway, blushing and flustered. He started walking towards Danny, who was already situated on a swing and pumping his legs to get it moving. Dash walked up to the swing set, and instead of getting on the swing next to Danny, he got behind Danny and started pushing him.

"Can I ask some questions? To get to know you better?" Dash asked, mentally slapping himself at the suggestion, and hoping that adding the last part would make it seem less weird.

"Sure…" Dash smiled, happy that Danny was fine with his proposal. "…as long as you don't ask me if I'm a virgin."

Dash blanched, and Danny laughed.

"First question; what do you do for a living?" Danny was silent for a minute, and Dash wondered if he brought up something Danny didn't want to talk about.

Right when Dash was about to tell him he didn't answer if he didn't want to, Danny started talking.

"I don't really have an actual job. People all over the city pay me to do tasks for them, about a thousand per person."

"Oh. That must be nice; you don't have to deal with any annoying coworkers or managers. And you get to make your own hours."

"Yeah, it definitely has its perks."

"Okay, do you have any pets?" Danny seemed to perk up at this question, and began to talk excitedly.

"Yeah I have a dog. His name is Cujo, and he's really small but he is a really good guard dog."

"I'd like to see him some time. Do you still talk with any of your family?"

"I have a cousin named Danielle, but she prefers Dani, with an 'i'. she visits me about once a month."

"Why hasn't she told your family where you are?"

"She knows why I cut ties with them, and they don't know about her."

"What?"

"It's complicated."

"Seems like it." They sat in silence for a few minutes, except the creaking of the swing as Dash pushed Danny, and the distant caw of crows. The whole mood seemed unsettling to Dash, but Danny seemed like he was at peace, like this was his happy place.

_'Okay, I've always been sappy, but that was a little much even for me.'_ Dash was broken from his thoughts when Danny back flipped off the swing when he was high in the air, and landed on his feet.

"Do you want to go get a drink?" Danny looked at Dash, and even though Dash would've loved to stay there with Danny, he agreed.

"Great, let's go." Dash followed Danny through a ton of alleyways, until they came out on a familiar street. Dread filled Dash when he saw the coffee shop where he ran into Danny, and he prayed that the barista from before wouldn't be there.

They walked in the door and Dash was planning to tell Danny he would find them a seat and Danny could order whatever he wanted to get them when a voice from the counter interrupted him.

"Danny! It's nice to see you again."

_'Oh, sweet mother of god.'_

_'_


End file.
